


Wish

by threerings



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Caleb has matured, Future Fic, Kissing, Lvl 17 or more Caleb, Mollymauk is alive again, Mollymauk is nonbinary dammit, Other, They talk and kiss, This is the kind of bargaining my brain is doing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 18:00:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15646005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/threerings/pseuds/threerings
Summary: A much stronger Caleb Widogast, after growing and changing and still not being able to forget a colorful tiefling, uses the Wish spell to bring Mollymauk Tealeaf back to life.They have this conversation.





	Wish

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, brain, for continuing to come up with ways to undo the thing. I'm never going to write this into a complete fic, because it would have to be lengthy. So here is just a little scene, set maybe a day or two after Caleb resurrects Molly using the Wish spell.
> 
> (I'm assuming that bringing Molly back with the spell is actually more likely than what Caleb wants, which is to bring his parents back with it.)

A knock sounded at the door. “Ja?” called Caleb, sitting up straighter when he saw Mollymauk’s form behind the opening door. “Mollymauk.”

“Caleb,” the tiefling replied with a soft smile. “Are you busy? I’d like to talk.” Caleb sucked in air, but forced himself to keep a calm demeanor.

“Certainly.” He sat up fully, on the edge of the bed, and watched Molly as he closed the door behind him and approached the bed. He sat on the edge as well, leaving a sizable gap between them. 

“Caleb,” began Mollymauk, and from his tone Caleb could tell this would be a serious conversation. He couldn’t remember if Molly had ever even had a single serious conversation back before his death. “Why did you bring me back?” 

Silence rang between them as Caleb looked at Molly for several long beats, wanting so badly to hide, but needing to search the other’s face for his meaning. He finally turned away and scrubbed a hand across his face. 

“I...” He faltered. “Are you...happy? To be back?” He turned again to study Molly’s response. 

The tiefling’s eyes widened and he looked surprised by the question. “Yes,” he replied with a genuine smile. “I...am. I’m happy to be back. But that wasn’t...you didn’t answer my question.” 

Caleb nodded, acknowledging the point. Still, he didn’t speak. “Because I was talking to Nott,” Molly continued after a pause, “and she said you had other plans for that spell. That you spent years working towards it, all to bring back your parents.” Caleb shut his eyes for a moment. “She was angry, I think, that you instead used it for me.”

He took a deep breath, contemplating the far wall. “When you died,” he said. “It hurt terribly.” He breathed shallowly through his nose, grimacing at the memories. “It was the first thing to hurt me that badly...since I murdered my parents.” He heard the indrawn breath from Molly next to him, didn’t look around to see his expression.

“Nott didn’t explain that part, then.” His voice was flat. “I killed them. When I was 16. I was...lied to about why it was necessary. Manipulated into it. It doesn’t matter now.” He wrapped his arms around himself, feeling cold. “And yes, when I finally...had the chance, I set out to pursue a magical way to undo what I’d done. It’s what drove me for years. It’s what I was searching for in all those books, those libraries all these years.”

“But then you died. And it hurt. And it didn’t stop. I kept expecting it to, for the pain to fade. I’d hardly known you, really. We knew each other for weeks. But...” His voice floundered as he lost the words. 

“It wasn’t right. What happened to you. You...deserved more time. To be in the world for longer. The world would be better for you being in it. I couldn’t stop thinking that.” He stopped, looked up at the far wall again. Didn’t turn and look at Molly, though he could sense the intensity of the red eyes on him. “And then I had the spell. It would work. Well, there was a chance. But only one.” He rubbed at his eyes. 

“I thought about it for days. Weeks. It kept me up at night. In the end, I just...” he shook his head helplessly, his throat thick. “I just wanted you...wanted you to be in the world.” He couldn’t resist a glance to the side then, saw the naked emotion on Mollymauk’s face but didn’t understand it, and looked down at his hands.

Molly shifted closer to him. Then a warm finger brushed down his cheek, coming to rest under his chin, tilting his head up and turning it to meet Mollymauk’s gaze. “Caleb,” he said, voice hushed. They were still, looking at one another. Molly’s hand moved, one finger brushing against Caleb’s lips. 

“Can I kiss you?” he asked, almost timidly. The breath caught in Caleb’s throat. He barely inclined his head, not sure if he really should agree, but wanting to so badly. He somehow leaned towards Molly, though, and Molly slowly closed the rest of the gap, his lips brushing ever so gently against Caleb’s. 

Caleb jerked back, a bolt of panic spearing him. He panted: quick, shallow breaths. Molly frowned and retreated a few inches. “Sorry?” he said, embarrassment beginning to show, not something Caleb was used to seeing on Molly’s face.

“No,” he said. Then he leaned further forward, stretching up, closing the distance himself this time, pressing himself to Molly clumsily, relieved when a hand slid into his hair and tilted his head to a better position. 

The kiss was light, timid, gentle at first, neither of them sure of what they were doing, both fearing the other would pull back at any moment. But they didn’t, and Molly’s tongue flicked out to trace the seam between Caleb’s lips and he opened up. 

And then Molly was devouring him, lips and tongue and sharp teeth. His hand strong on the back of Caleb’s head, fingers gripping his hair. Caleb trembled, his whole body singing with warmth. It felt like they were building to something, building, building, and then he broke away, gasping.

Molly looked at him, concerned as he gasped for air. “Are you okay?” he asked. 

Caleb nodded, his heart pounding loudly behind his ribs. “It’s just...a lot. A lot to...take. Overwhelming.” Molly nodded, face relaxing into a small smile. 

“Yes,” he agreed. “It is.” He raised the hand which had been buried in his hair and carefully stroked down Caleb’s cheek with the back of his hand. “But we can take it slow,” he said, to Caleb’s immediate relief.

“Can we?”

Molly’s smile widened. “Mmm-hmm. It’s a lot for me, too. But I’ve wanted to kiss you for a very long time, Caleb.” Caleb felt himself smiling. A real smile, the kind which had been so very rare for him for so long. 

“Me, too,” he admitted. “I thought I’d missed my chance, before I was ever ready...” Molly nodded. 

“You’ve changed,” he said softly. His hand traced the scar next to Caleb’s left eye. “A lot has happened without me.” Caleb nodded, his stomach flipping over. “I have to get to know this new Caleb.” Molly leaned in close, then, and pecked him on the lips. “But I think I’m going to like him very much.”


End file.
